What Is a Rare Book?

Over the past 500 years, millions and millions of books,
pamphlets, magazines, newspapers, and broadsides have come off printing presses.
Only a small portion of these pieces, however, would be considered "rare" by
specialists. There are no easy formulas or unequivocal guides to rarity. In
fact, there is often no one distinctive feature that will set a rare book apart
from other books. There are, however, a few factors involved which assist a
collector in determining a book's rarity.

-- excerpted from
Your Old Books by the
Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research
Libraries

Characteristics of a Rare Book

Intrinsic Importance: The most essential factor in determining rarity
is the book's intrinsic importance, or how important the book is considered to
be in its field. Only books with some acknowledged importance will have a
consumer demand that creates market value and a sense of rarity.

Age: Surprisingly to many people, the age of a book has very little to
do with its value. The other factors are typically more important considerations
of rarity. Dealers, collectors and librarians, however, do use some broad time
spans to establish dates of likely importance: e.g., all books printed before
1501, English books printed before 1641, books printed in the Americas before
1801 and books printed west of the Mississippi before 1850. These dates are
rough guidelines at best and are always subject to the overriding factors of
intrinsic importance, condition, and demand.

Scarcity: Scarcity does not equal rarity. A book known to exist in
only a few copies may have value if it has importance and is in demand. A book
without importance or demand has little value regardless of how few copies
survive.

Condition: Condition is a major factor in determining a book's value
along with intrinsic importance, supply and demand. Condition refers to both the
book's external physical appearance and the completeness of its contents. A book
in "fine" condition is complete in all respects, has no tears or other signs of
misuse or overuse, and is in an original or appropriate and intact binding. A
book that has been rebound or is in less than fine condition must be very
important or in high demand to be of substantial value.

First Edition: In the strictest sense, "first edition" refers to a
copy of a book printed from the first setting of type, constituting the first
public appearance of the text in that form. Subsequent changes to the printed
text through corrections of the original typesetting produces different "states"
and "issues" but not a new edition.

The liberal use of the term "first edition" has made it seem synonymous with
"scarce" and "valuable." This is by no means the case. Most books appear in only
one edition. Collectors of literary works especially are interested in first
editions, and there is a lively and well- documented market for these books.
Condition plays an even greater role than usual in determining the monetary
value of literary first editions. If an author revises the text for a later
edition, it may be of interest too.

Fine Bindings and Illustrations: A book can have physical
characteristics that lend importance - a special binding, first use of a new
printing process, an innovative design, an autograph or inscription.

-- excerpted from Your Old
Books by the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of
College and Research Libraries

Cancel: a page which has been tipped-in to replace another page
removed after binding.

Catchword: the first word on the next page, printed at the bottom
right corner of each recto page of a book.

Collation: a page by page examination of a book in order to
determine whether it is complete.

Colophon: a short descriptive identification of the printer or
publisher of the book which appears at the end.

Condition: refers to the actual physical well-being of the book. In
common bookdealer terminology, VG=very good, F=fine, G=good and P=poor. Often,
two indicators are given, separated by a "/", for example: VG/F. The first
indicator describes the book itself and the second indicator describes the
dustjacket. It must be noted that descriptions of condition are not
standardized and may vary according to the individual describing the book.

Contemporary: refers to bindings which are of the same general
time-period as the book block, as opposed to bindings which were added at a
later date.

Cut: an illustration printed within the text of a book; also refers
to a book which has had the edges of the pages trimmed evenly so that they are
flush and smooth.

Endpapers: double leaves
added to the front and back of the book and pasted to the binding. Leather
bindings typically have marbled endpapers, publisher's bindings of the
nineteenth century often had "flint-paper" (a slightly shiny paper burnished
with flint), and modern editions are increasingly illustrated. Highly
decorated endpapers often increase the value of the book.

Extra-illustrated: A book in which many prints,
engravings or other illustrations have been added after publication, either
professionally or by a private owner. Usually, a volume is considered
extra-illustrated only if the bulk of the additions necessitated re- binding.

Facsimile: a reprint of a book designed to look
like the original. May also refer to pages or plates which are produced to
replace missing or damaged originals.

Festschrift: a book of scholarly essays printed
in honor of an individual.

Fine binding: a book bound in leather with
blindstamped decorations and gilding.

First edition: refers to a copy of a book printed
from the first setting of type, constituting the first public appearance of
the text in that form. Subsequent changes to the printed text through
corrections of the original typesetting produces different "states" and
"issues" but not a new edition.

Flyleaf: a blank page or
pages added to the front or end of a book, adjacent to the endpapers.

Pirated edition: an unauthorized edition printed
and sold without payment of royalties.

Plates: whole-sheet illustrations printed
separately from the text.

Prelims: preliminary leaves, which are those that
appear before the main text of a book; includes title page, prefaces, etc.

Presentation copy: a copy of a book given to
someone by the author, usually with an inscription.

Private press: a small press usually devoted to
producing a small quantity of finely printed books.

Privately printed: refers to a book or
pamphlet whose printing is paid for by a private party and which is meant for
private distribution, not public sale.

Provenance: the previous ownership of an item;
"pedigree."

Publisher's binding: Prior to about 1823, books
were typically issued by the publisher in a temporary paper cover which was
meant to be replaced by the owner, who would take the book to a professional
binder for a permanent, custom covering. In 1823, cloth bindings produced by
the publisher began to appear, and by 1850 they had become standard issue for
most books. A book issued in a publisher's binding but which has been re-bound
is generally worth less than one in its original binding, except for special
presentation copies.

Series: a group of volumes with a common theme
issued in succession by a single publisher.

Shaky: a book which is no longer firm in its
covers, giving way at the inside hinges, sometimes with cracked or torn
endpapers.

Shaved: refers to a book whose margins have been
trimmed so much that some of the text or page numbers have been cut off.

Shoulder notes: text printed in the top margin.

Side notes: text printed in the outer side
margin.

Signature: in bookmaking, this term refers to all
of the pages created by folding a single sheet of paper. Each page printed on
a sheet of paper on a handpress would have a letter or number combination
assigned to it which would indicate the order of the pages. This signature can
often be seen on the bottom of the page in older books.

Signed binding: a binder's signature may be found
in one of several places in a book:

1. In early bindings, initials or name may be stamped
on the outside cover;
2. In books printed before 1830, a binder's ticket (printed or engraved
label) may be found affixed to the front endpapers or sometimes on the title
page;
3. Most often, a full name (usually not initials) will be either stamped on
the inside edge of the binding or written in ink on the edge of one of the
endpapers;
4. Occasionally, a manuscript note by the owner will state who did the
binding.

Slipcase: a case
designed to hold a book with only the spine exposed.

Spine: the "backbone" of a book, where all the
gatherings are attached.

State: similar to an issue,
but usually indicates a textual change rather than a correction.

Vellum: the skin of a calf,
lamb or goat which is de-greased but not tanned and is used for either
writing, printing or binding of books. The most common use in printed books is
for binding, especially on items from the 16th and 17th centuries. It was not
unusual, however, for publishers to print a few copies of an edition on
vellum, typically either before 1520 or after 1780.